


That Kind Of Love

by Dard_E_Disco



Category: Three Violent People (1957)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Forgiveness, implied threesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-30
Updated: 2014-03-30
Packaged: 2018-01-17 12:30:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1387666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dard_E_Disco/pseuds/Dard_E_Disco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What might have happened between Cinch and Lorna after Colt found out about her past. Also contains an alternate ending & resolution.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Kind Of Love

She hadn’t anticipated family. In fact, Colt seemed such a solitary man that she had taken it for granted that he was alone. It would have been easier that way.

Cinch stood in front of her now with flashing black eyes, missing one arm and daring her to ask him about it. She took the drink he poured for her and downed it. He was impressed, she could see it in his smile. And he was attracted to her too, she had been a dance-hall girl long enough to know when a man was, and they always were. 

“I went to fetch you but you weren’t there,” Colt said, striding through the door and encircling his arm around her waist with no small amount of possessiveness. “I see you two have already met.”

She beamed up at him, caught as always by his bright blue eyes and fair hair. He was tall and solid and steady and oh-so-good. There was no way she was going to let anything spoil this for her. This was her chance to lead an honest life, a good life. Colt didn’t ever need to know about that bad, wicked part of her.

But Cinch knew. They were kindred spirits.

………………

She felt as though her heart was breaking and she hadn’t even been sure she really possessed one until that moment. She could have killed the man who had revealed her secret. Instead she had stopped Colt from doing it - because she didn’t want him to murder on her account - and settled for insulting him. 

But it was too late! It was all lost! Colt had looked at her like she was no better than the dirt beneath his boots.

Cinch slammed his hand down on the table, his face tight and his body coiled for action. “We can take the horses, sell them,” he was insistent. Of course he wasn’t shocked. “We’ll both get what we deserve.”

She stood and walked slowly back into the bedroom she had shared with Colt. How precious those mornings had been, when she had awoken in his arms. How awful that it was all over. She could feel Cinch’s eyes watching her. His footsteps were loud as he joined her and helped her to pack. 

“Lorna,” he said sort of brokenly, as tears trickled down her cheeks. “You shouldn’t have expected so much of him. He can only see things one way, not like you and me. We know everything isn’t black and white, we know about the gray.”

“Oh, Cinch,” she sobbed, “I know I lied to him, but I always wanted to tell him…I just couldn’t.” 

When he pulled her to him with his one arm, she didn’t resist. He was a little smaller than Colt, slighter somehow, and not nearly as all-encompassing. She pressed her face into his chest, her nose tickled by the scent of dust and smoke and sweat. She felt him turn his cheek into her hair and breathe deeply. 

“I’ll look after you,” he said. “Lets take the horses and go. I’ll take care of you, I promise.”

“What about him?” she asked. “I can’t just leave him alone.”

“He’ll be fine. He’s got his principles and his morals to keep him warm at night.” Cinch said this bitterly, like he knew nothing but coldness and shadows and resented his brother any small amount of comfort. 

They broke apart and she looked up at him, trying to regain her composure. He grinned crookedly, tipping the brim of his hat. He was right, there was nothing left for her anymore. It had never been her home anyway, not when she had made it with lies. 

……………

Under the canvas shelter of her carriage, she put her head in her hands. The sun had set hours ago and the horses were all asleep. She was tired from a day of traversing over rocky and uneven ground and she was cold and hungry. 

A pang of worry hit her as she thought about the baby for the first time since Colt had cast her aside. She hadn’t told him. A fond remembrance of the joy she had felt when Maria had excitedly confirmed her suspicions made her want to cry all over again. But she wouldn’t let herself. Wasn’t she stronger than this? Hadn’t she made her way in the world with the kind of self-sufficient independence that so few women had?

“Lorna?”

Blinking, she squinted at the shadow looming in the darkness. He came closer, climbing up to sit with her, and she saw it was Cinch. 

There was something about him, beneath the outer bravado, that was like a little boy crying out for love and acceptance. She understood that better than anyone. And it was Colt’s love that they were both aching for, though he wouldn’t admit it…would never admit it. 

“He’s a fool,” Cinch said. “He’s always been a fool.”

“No,” she couldn’t stand to insult him, even now, “He’s just a man who wouldn’t ever think of deceiving anybody, not in the way we do, and so he doesn’t want to believe it of the people he loves either.” 

“That’s why he’s a fool.” 

“Do you really still hate him just because of what happened in your childhood? That hurt him too, you know, more than you think.”

He laughed bitterly, “No. I hate him because he still thinks we’re equals. But we’ve never been equals, not since that day. That day he became a hero and I became a cripple. He went to war and I stayed home like a coward. Father left everything to him and nothing to me unless he sees fit. And then he got you too. No woman ever looked at me the way you look at him…even though I understand you like he never will.”

He moved forward, impassioned. His hand brushed her face tenderly, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. “If you had met me first…would you have loved me, Lorna?”

She knew what he wanted and so she gave it to him. Burning kiss after burning kiss as she clung to him and let him touch her. He was so careful with her, in a way Colt had never been, because Cinch knew what it was to be hurt and bruised. If she had seen him in one of the saloons she had worked in - sitting at the bar and nursing a whisky - she probably would have coaxed him into bed, probably would have loved him.

“Lorna,” he whispered her name into her neck like a benediction, his hot lips like a brand on her skin.

She wanted him to have this, wanted him to know that someone who loved his brother could love him too. She wouldn’t tell him it wasn’t the same. 

……….

Later, through the long torturous months of her labour, she learnt how Colt had knocked Cinch out and banished him. It was the first time he had ever hit his brother and she could see how it twisted him up inside, even so long after. 

She longed to talk to him about it but every time she tried he was like stone, impenetrable, and she found her voice faltering into silence. 

When she thought of her baby and how she would never know him she wanted to scream with the injustice of it all. Why was it always the righteous who caused the most pain? And it was worse, because they felt they were justified in their cruelty. 

………..

“Remember, when you’re raising him - he’s just a boy - he’ll make mistakes.” She felt as though she were being forcibly ripped in two. Colt stared at her almost impassively, but there was a shine to his eyes that suggested tears were not far away. She had never seen him cry. 

Cinch appeared minutes later, swaggering up the porch and letting his expression soften to greet her. “No need to say you’re beautiful,” he said, “You’ll be beautiful even when you’re eighty. It’s that kind of beauty.” His tone was deceptive - meant to be careless and light, but she could hear all the roughness beneath. 

Then he was back to talking tough and challenging Colt to a duel dictated by the steady spill of whisky. She ran to her son, shielding him, and caught Cinch’s quick, acknowledging gaze. 

She tried to protect Colt, throwing herself in the line of fire, and yet never believed that Cinch would go through with it. He didn’t want to kill his brother, he just wanted to open his eyes. Here I am, he said without words, I’m broken and useless and deceitful and not nearly good enough, but just look at me. 

Colt only embraced her after he thought his brother had taken his last breath. It was as if Cinch was taking her sins to his grave along with his own. She cried in relief as she trembled in her husband’s arms, hearing the gurgling of their son in his crib. 

But then, seconds later, Innocencio let out an exclamation of astonishment, diverting their attention back to the body. It seemed impossible but Cinch was coughing weakly, his face scrunched in pain and his black eyes burning into them. She thought Colt would push her away but instead he took her hand and led her over to crouch by his brother, touching Cinch tenderly. 

……………

In the days and weeks that followed Cinch healed from his wound and slowly Colt began to work at repairing their relationship as well. It had to be him who made the move, because Cinch never would. She urged him on and kept out of their way for a while, devoting her time to her tow-headed little boy who looked so very much like his father that it was almost comical. 

“Do you still hate me?” she asked Colt in bed, her head pillowed on his chest and his fingers stroking through her red curls. “Do you wish you’d never met me?”

He pressed a fierce kiss to her temple. “No,” he said, his tone passionate, “No. I’m sorry I ever did.”

Maybe he did see now, how people could be both bad and good at the same time. How sometimes all they needed was for someone to believe in them. 

“Then,” she gathered her courage, “then there’s something else I need to tell you. I don’t want anything to come between us, not anymore.” She was afraid, so afraid, but it had to be done. 

But he surprised her, kissing her again and whispering hoarsely, “I know, I know. Why do you think I hit him? I wouldn’t have done that just for horses. But I’m glad, I’m glad you love him as I do. It makes it easier for me to see why I should. He needs us both, Lorna.”

She lifted her head, resting her chin on his hand and widening her eyes. “What are you saying?” Had she fallen asleep at some point? The words coming out of his lips were crazy, but he was serious. Yes the righteous caused the most pain, but when they knew they were wrong they worked so hard to change - to be right again. 

“I love you more,” she had to say.

He grinned, his teeth gleaming in the moonlight. “Lets all love each other, whether we deserve it or not.”

…………

Some days later she approached Cinch while he was mucking out the horses, holding up her skirts to avoid the dirt. He smiled at her tentatively, his shirt unbuttoned and his hair hanging in his eyes. He was beginning to regain his tan and the shadows were fading from beneath his eyes. 

“I thought you were avoiding me,” he said, trying to sound nonchalant.

“No. I was only giving you time, both of you.”

He set aside his shovel and wiped his hand on his trousers, crossing over to where she stood on a layer of clean straw. 

“Cinch, I told him.”

His reaction was immediate. Pain, betrayal and fear flashed across his face. He was scared that she had come to tell him he had to leave. “Why, Lorna?”

She took his face in her hands, smiling up at him, “It’s all right,” she assured him, “It’s all right. He knew anyway.”

“I’ll go. I’ll take some….” he trailed off, stumbling toward the paddock.

Colt was on the porch, watching them. The sun was setting behind the ranch, painting everything red and gold. Cinch spotted him and stopped. Something passed between them and he turned back to her. She held her hand out.

“We want you to stay,” she said simply, thinking of him as she had pictured him before; as a man she could love.

They would all be fine. Seasons would change and years would pass but their love could only grow. It was that kind of love.


End file.
